Yes, the Lancashire Lass is back on her home soil, albeit 12 hours later than planned (XL Airways, NEVER again! ), and I've had a really fantastic time in Cyprus. We really needed this break, what with Tia's progressing illness and other things on top of that, and it truly was relaxing and enjoyable, even in the searing heat. We hit 44 degrees C one day! I took plenty of pics, but waaaay too many to post on the boards, so I give you a selection as an insight into my holiday.

Our villa was gorgeous. My family isn't really the time to take the usual package holiday and we don't like hotel atmosphere, so we usually rent a villa as far away from town life as possible to get some peace and relaxation! We stayed in an estate known as the Secret Valley, just south of Paphos. And we woke up to a most spectacular views over the dusty terrain each morning.



Paphos itself is a pretty busy place, especially at night with all the nightclubs blaring, so we preferred to visit only in the afternoon hours to have a drink in Kato Paphos, by the harbour.



We hired a car and did a lot of travelling, some of the best of which was spent in the Troodos mountain range, trying to manouvre through tiny villages one minute then driving along clifftop B roads the next!



The views were stunning.



This is one pretty little house on the hill...



...especially when this is your front garden!



Staring out over these huge creations of nature suddenly makes one feel pretty small, as I demonstrate here!



Many more to come...